PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) Shares Bought by Financial Counselors Inc.

Financial Counselors Inc. raised its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Free Report) by 4.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 368,966 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 16,104 shares during the quarter. Financial Counselors Inc.'s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $55,323,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of PepsiCo by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 133,371,504 shares of the company's stock worth $20,280,471,000 after purchasing an additional 1,376,133 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of PepsiCo by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 31,079,522 shares of the company's stock worth $4,717,069,000 after purchasing an additional 582,254 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of PepsiCo during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,729,565,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of PepsiCo by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,403,395 shares of the company's stock worth $2,494,300,000 after purchasing an additional 1,306,818 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of PepsiCo by 0.4% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 14,062,857 shares of the company's stock worth $2,108,585,000 after purchasing an additional 49,699 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PepsiCo Trading Down 0.4%

PEP traded down $0.56 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $134.48. 7,759,078 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,080,434. The firm's fifty day moving average is $131.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $141.88. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1-year low of $127.60 and a 1-year high of $180.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.13. The company has a market cap of $184.38 billion, a PE ratio of 19.78, a PEG ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 0.45.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.01). PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.28% and a net margin of 10.24%. The firm had revenue of $17.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.81 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.61 EPS. PepsiCo's revenue was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th were paid a dividend of $1.4225 per share. This is a positive change from PepsiCo's previous quarterly dividend of $1.36. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 6th. This represents a $5.69 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.23%. PepsiCo's dividend payout ratio is presently 83.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on PEP shares. Dbs Bank cut PepsiCo from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered PepsiCo from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $171.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on PepsiCo from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Barclays lowered their price objective on PepsiCo from $143.00 to $135.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on PepsiCo from $170.00 to $160.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $159.75.

PepsiCo Company Profile

PepsiCo, Inc engages in the manufacture, marketing, distribution, and sale of various beverages and convenient foods worldwide. The company operates through seven segments: Frito-Lay North America; Quaker Foods North America; PepsiCo Beverages North America; Latin America; Europe; Africa, Middle East and South Asia; and Asia Pacific, Australia and New Zealand and China Region.